The Ties That Bind Us
by mewtwofangirl
Summary: When the Heartless swallowed Destiny Islands; Sora and his friends Dawn and Sienna wound up in Traverse Town, but what became of Riku, Kairi, and the girls' sisters Ember and Destiny? Sora and the others must find them, lest the darkness consume them all.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: Okay, before you read the re-write of chapter one or the chapter that follows, please note i didn't have KH1 at the time i edited them, and i had to describe Traverse Town and Destiny Islands from memory. I didn't revise anything yet because i wanted to re-post and see if anyone advised me to play the game...which i just got the other day...and fix up the descriptions)**

Chapter 1

(Dawn's PoV)

I tucked a strand of my shoulder length lavender hair behind my ear and sighed.

"If you're looking for Ember, she's hiding from you, Riku." I said, not turning to face the platinum haired boy my age. Said fifteen year old male sighed and sat next to me in the sand, his blue-green eyes full of a mixture of worry for my sister and slight irritation towards her.

"She really is mad at me, huh?" he asked. I rolled my sea foam green eyes.

{_Duh! You're the first guy she ever loved and you told her you're leaving Destiny Islands, you idiot._} I thought. But, knowing this would both irritate Riku and give him information Ember wouldn't appreciate him having, I said,

"You know…I wouldn't really put it that way. She's hurt that you're leaving the islands, and sometimes, angry is the only way she knows how to act when she doesn't want to express how she's really feeling. She doesn't want you to see her cry, and that's why she's hiding in the seaside sha….oops." I winced, realizing my mistake. Riku all but jumped up.

"She's crying?" his voice was full of worry as he dashed towards the seaside shack.

"Riku, I wouldn't do that if I were…nevermind." I sighed and laid on my back in the sand. Ember hated it when anyone saw or heard her cry. She wouldn't even let me, Destiny, or Sienna come comfort her when she was like this. I just hoped this wouldn't end TOO badly…..Riku, Ember, I apologize to both of you in advance for whatever happens….

(Ember's PoV)

My long violet hair covered my face, hiding the tears that fell from my ice blue eyes. Why? Why did Riku, Sora, and Kairi have to leave? Riku, you jerk! I never even got the chance to tell you that I….

My eyes widened in shock and I let out a small squeak when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me from behind.

"Ember, please don't cry. Please. This doesn't have to be goodbye, you know. You could…you could come with us if you wanted to. I bet Sora and Kairi would be happy to have you along." R-Riku? I pulled out of his embrace and wiped my tears away before turning to him.

"Riku, you know I can't do that. If you, Sora, and Kairi want to know what lies beyond our home, that's great, but…I have NO interest whatsoever in what's out there. I'm sorry, but…I can't. I can't go with you." I said sadly. Riku put his hands gently on my shoulders.

"Ember…please. I know you're scared, but…I'll protect you, just like always. I promised I'd always keep you safe, right?" I looked into Riku's eyes, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. His eyes seemed to be pleading with me to go with him and the others. But…I was still afraid. Finally, I said,

"…How long until you leave?"

"Three days." He replied. I gave him a soft smile.

"I'll…I'll think about it okay?" I said. Riku smiled and nodded, hugging me. My heart skipped a beat and I pulled away from him.

"R-Riku," I stammered, "there's something I've….wanted to tell you for a long time now. I-"

"Riku! Ember! You wanna come swimming?" I turned to face the spiky haired brunette. Way to ruin the moment, Sora…

"Yeah, we're coming…" I said, shoving him out of the shack. Riku shot Sora a slight glare of annoyance and followed me. As I exited the shack I looked around the island. To the left of me was the tree house, where all of us (that would include Sora, Riku, Kairi, Dawn, our older sister Sienna and myself) would camp out sometimes in the summer. Inside, we had stored two boxes of our things, including sleeping bags, lanterns, flashlights, snacks, and such. I think we even had a couple board games and a deck of cards up there that we'd bought when we were in elementary school, but I couldn't remember. To my right was the shack that led to the other side of the island, where Riku and Sora would often compete…for Kairi's attention. Next to that little divide was a smaller shack; the one I was hiding from Riku in. Across from the seaside shack and the divide was a bridge leading to a smaller island where a single tree grew; the paopu tree. I smiled sadly at the memory of how many nights I would spend sitting there by that tree…wishing the one I love would return my feelings. But…

"Ember!" Sora's voice and a small "thunk" sound broke me out of my thoughts. I frowned as I looked down. Someone (most likely Sora or Dawn…probably Dawn) had taken knocked a coconut out of one of the many trees scattered around the island and threw it at my feet to get my attention. I picked it up and looked over at my friends, raising an eyebrow.

"Who threw it?" I inquired. Sora instantly pointed at Dawn, not willing to give her a chance to pin the blame on him; when he and I both knew he didn't do it in the first place. I sighed and looked around.

"Where's Destiny?" I asked. I winced inwardly when Sora's face took on a sad expression. I had nearly forgotten….she didn't hang out with us when he and Kairi were around. Dawn nodded her head towards the treehouse.

"She's up there by herself reading; like she always does when we're not using it." She told me with a sigh. I too, sighed. What was my little sister's problem, anyway? She'd been acting weird for a few years now...and I mean weird even for a Goth. ….Okay, she wasn't COMPLETELY Goth personality wise (though she took on a moody disposition when Sora and Kairi were around), she mostly just liked to dress in dark clothes. Although she HAD been writing some really sad love poetry…but that was beside the point….trying to get off the subject and cheer Sora up (since it was my fault he was all sad now) I said,

"Race you guys to the water!" I got a head start as soon as the words left my mouth, but before I could get all the way in, Riku picked me up, causing me to squeak in surprise. The others were already in the water, and smirking knowingly at what Riku was going to do. It didn't take me long to catch on, and I began to shake my head in protest.

"R-Riku, don't you even THINK about i-AH!" I gave a startled cry as he dropped me into the cold water. When I surfaced, I glared at him furiously.

"You jerk!" I huffed. He just laughed along with the others, since he knew I wasn't REALLY mad about it. I gave a mock scoff and splashed him. This started a major water fight between the whole group that was there. (it was only me, Sora, Riku, Dawn, and Kairi. As was mentioned, Destiny doesn't hang out with us when Sora and Kairi are around. Tidus and Wakka decided to practice their blitz ball moves on the main island, and I think Selphie said something about having to help her mom with some stuff today.) All of us were completely soaked by the time the sun went down, and as we got in our boats and headed for home, I realized I never DID tell Riku that I loved him. Oh well. I always had tomorrow, right?

**_-the next day…-_**

(Dawn's PoV)

I gave a growl of annoyance and got up on the dock.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you anymore after the first time. I knew you'd make fun of me." I stated bluntly, turning to walk away.

(Sienna's PoV)

I stood up out of the boat and dashed after my younger sister, my shoulder length neon pink hair flowed behind me as I did so.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Come on, Dawn, I didn't mean anything by it, I was kidding. I want to hear about the dream. Please?" Dawn sighed and turned around.

"If you tease me again, I'm not telling you any more of my dreams. Got it?" she said. I nodded and we went and walked up onto the small deck north of the dock and left across from the treehouse. It wasn't long before we were joined by our little sisters, Ember and Destiny. Destiny twirled a strand of her dark blue side-ponytail and gave us a look of curiosity. I was somewhat surprised. The little Goth hardly ever came out of her cave; aka the tree house (or when the tree house was unavailable, the seaside shack)

"What's up guys?" she asked. I looked up at her and Ember.

"Dawn had another dream of the red haired man. I want to see if details will give me a vision of whether or not they'll ever actually meet." I said.

(Dawn's PoV)

I sighed as Destiny and Ember sat down, too.

"Okay, first of all, you can't force your visions of love any more than I could see the Past, Destiny could see the Future, or Ember could see the Present on command. Our visions don't work like that. Second, I don't see why you guys want to hear so much about my dreams anyway. They're really not THAT interesting." I said. Destiny and Ember both smiled at me and shook their heads.

"Well…you just always look so happy when you talk about him. Besides, if you didn't want us to ask about every dream from then on, you shouldn't have told us the FIRST one." Ember said with a giggle. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Alright, alright, anyway, last night…." And so, I wound up telling them what happened in my dream, from when he and I walked into the white room to when he gave me….that strange warning.

"_Don't fall in love with me._" He had said. And when I asked him what he meant, he'd only confused me more when he replied,

"_Because a Nobody who doesn't have a heart can't love a Somebody who has one._" When I finished telling my sisters about my dream, they all exhaled.

"Wow. What do you suppose he meant by that?" Destiny asked. I shook my head.

"I don't know." I said. Ember frowned at me.

"Well at least now I know that HE'S the reason you're thinking about leaving, too." She said with a huff. I shook my head and sighed.

"Don't tell me you're STILL scared to leave?" I asked in disbelief. Ember frowned at me, and was about to say something, but at the sound of a certain someone calling her name, she scurried and hid behind me. The rest of us waved at Riku in greeting as he approached.

"Hey, Riku. What's up?" Sienna greeted casually.

(Ember's PoV)

Riku's gaze fell on me, and stayed there as he said,

"I want to talk to Ember alone for a minute." My cheeks burned crimson as Riku took me by the wrist and dragged me out of earshot of my sisters.

"Alright, I know you said you'd think about it, but…what can I do to get you to come with us?" I was slightly taken by surprise by how Riku was acting. He was acting very…differently, over the past couple days.

"Riku, what…what's gotten into you?" I asked, backing away slightly. Riku gave me a funny look.

"What do you mean?" he asked. I sighed.

"Well…don't take this the wrong way, but you're acting…weird?" I said hesitantly. He crossed his arms.

"What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"Well it's just…you're never usually this concerned by the decisions I make."

"What are you talking about? Come on, I've never broken my promise to protect you before have I?"

"Not unless Kairi's around." I instantly regretted that last heated comment when I saw how angry it had made Riku. Keeping his voice calmer than the look in his eyes revealed that he was, he said,

"What are you saying? That I care more about Kairi than I do you?"

"Yes, Riku, that is EXACTLY what I'm saying!" I snapped back.

"Gah! Could you BE any more CLUELESS?" Riku growled in agitation.

"WHAT are you talking about NOW?" I asked in exasperation. Riku sighed angrily and turned around.

"Nothing. Just forget I said anything." He snapped. I sighed and managed to calm myself a little before saying,

"Look, I said I'd THINK about going with you guys. I'll let you know what my decision is when I've made it." Without waiting for Riku to say anything else, I left him standing there as I returned to my sisters. For the rest of the day, I avoided Riku completely. It wasn't fair! I didn't want him and the others to go, but I wasn't trying to make THEM stay. So why was HE trying to pressure ME into leaving? Stupid jerk! And what did he mean when he called me clueless? If anyone was clueless, it was HIM! Even though everyone else had gone home to the main island for the day, I stayed behind. I needed to be alone so I could clear my head. I had every reason to hate the thought of leaving. Though, I didn't want to think about that right now.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" I looked up in surprise.

"I thought you went home already?" I asked. Sora shrugged and plopped down next to me in the sand.

"I was going to, but then I saw that your boat is still here. Selphie said she, Tidus, and Wakka tried to wait for you, but you told them to go on ahead. Riku uh….told me about the fight you guys had. You wanna talk about it, Ember?" he asked. I sighed.

"It's just…Riku gets me SO mad sometimes! When we were little, he and I were really close. He…he made a promise that he would always be there to protect me. But then…SHE shows up and he seems to all but forget about that. He spends more time with her than he does me. And all of a sudden he starts bringing up that stupid childhood promise to get me to go with you guys? Get real! And then he's got the nerve to call ME clueless, when HE'S the clueless one? Come on!" I ranted. Sora sighed and put an arm around my shoulder to calm me down.

"Ember…come on. Are you listening to yourself? Look, I heard you and Riku talking yesterday, and I heard everything. You know as well as I do that he's never broken his promise to you. Out of ALL of us, who was the first person to be there to console you when your mom was in the hospital and you were worried about her?"

"….Riku."

"And who was the only person who would go with you to her grave when it was pouring down rain and you wanted to go see her?"

"….Riku."

"And who was the person who came and visited you EVERY day when you got sick; who always took care of you when you got hurt?"

"…Riku."

"And who ALWAYS makes sure to look for you so he can spend time with you before the day is out?"

"…Riku."

"And who's the person you always call out for when you're lonely or scared?"

"….You can stop any time now, Sora." I muttered. Sora tugged at my bangs.

"Say it." He said.

"Ow. Don't pull my hair. …Fine. Riku. There, happy now?" I grumbled.

"Not quite. Ember, Riku cares about you a lot. And it's understandable that you're scared about leaving; as well as worried about me, him, and Kairi, but would it be so bad if you came with us?" I sighed and looked down. Maybe Sora was right, maybe I was overreacting. And to be honest, it wasn't Riku's fault he spent more time with Kairi than me when the days started off. It was because I was so afraid of having to see him look at her the way I look at him, so I avoided hanging out with him, Sora, and Kairi most of the time. But…I was being ridiculous. Sighing, I looked up at him and smiled.

"Alright, you win. I'll go with you guys." I said. Sora grinned and stood, helping me to my feet before dusting the sand off of his clothes. As I did the same, he said,

"I can't wait to tell Riku. So, you ready to head back?" I nodded.

(Destiny's PoV)

Later on in the evening, around dinner time, my grandmother told me Sora was on the phone. My chest tightened and I clenched my fist. I fought back the urge to say: "Tell him to go call _Kairi _instead and leave me alone!" but since that would reveal too much of why I didn't hang out with the others anymore, I said,

"Tell him I'm tired and I went to bed early." My grandmother gave me a slightly worried look, but she did as I asked her and told him I was unavailable when she hung up the phone, she said,

"Destiny, Sora sounded awfully sad. You should talk to him." I just went up to my room without another word, turned on my music and turned the volume up so no one could hear me crying.

(Sienna's PoV)

I sighed and looked up from studying at my desk. Sora must have called asking for Destiny again. That was the only time she ever slammed her bedroom door and blasted her Linkin Park music so loud it could wake the dead. And she always locked her bedroom door, so Dawn, Ember, and I could never get in there to talk to her. So basically, the only thing to do was let her vent it out alone and hope she was in a better mood by tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

(Dawn's PoV)

I frantically swung at the dark creatures that swiped at me, but due to my weapon being a simple wooden sword…. a TOY, to put it bluntly… I didn't have much luck. As I scanned the island, I saw that it was all but completely engulfed in the unsettling darkness from which the creatures were rising. I didn't completely understand what was going on, but I DID know that I had to find my sisters; Ember especially. Destiny; despite only being thirteen, was pretty good about keeping a cool head, and she and Sienna could both hold their own in a fight when they had to. Ember on the other hand, wasn't much with physical combat, and she wasn't good at keeping calm in an emergency; not when she was by herself. I hadn't been searching long before I spotted her standing on the small island where the paopu tree grew. Riku was beside her, and he was talking to Sora, who was standing on the bridge. I ran towards them to see what was happening, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard Riku say,

"I'm not afraid of the darkness." Oh, this was bad. This was very, VERY bad! The darkness began to wind itself around Riku and Ember, and Ember's eyes seemed to have a look of emptiness in them. Shaking myself out of my daze, I ran across the bridge to try and stop them, but I got there too late. The darkness had swept my sister and one of my best friends away. I turned to Sora.

"I don't suppose you know what's going on around here?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Dawn. Hey, I don't suppose you know where Kairi and the other girls are?" I shook my head.

"No. I was kind of hoping Destiny and Kairi would be with you, but no such luck. As for Sienna, I think she might be looking for everyone to try and keep them together." I said. Sora looked around as the dark creatures began to close in on us.

"We've gotta find Kairi and your other sisters. Wherever Riku and Ember are, as long as they're together, they'll be fine. Come on!" he said, running ahead of me. I nodded and followed him. When I caught up to him, I noticed him fighting off the creatures with what looked like a giant key. Needless to say I was a little surprised, not to mention confused.

"Sora, what is THAT thing?" I asked.

"It's called a keyblade, I guess. It just appeared in my hand after Riku and Ember disappeared." Sora replied. At that moment I made a mental note to be sure to find out what was going on the moment opportunity allowed it.

(Sienna's PoV)

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer on Destiny Island. I was in a hotel room bed.

"So you're awake." I gasped softly and turned to see a girl with short dark hair about Riku and Dawn's age; or possibly MY age. (I'm seventeen) I couldn't tell for sure though.

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"In the hotel in Traverse Town. How are you feeling?" she said. I exhaled.

"Confused. A little sore, too. But I'm in one piece, which is more than I can say for my home…the island I grew up on was attacked by these dark creatures. I was looking for my sisters and our three best friends when I was hit by…something, and blacked out. Oh! My name is Sienna, by the way." I said. The girl smiled at me.

"It's nice to meet you, Sienna. I'm Yuffie. The creatures that attacked your island are called Heartless. And, well…" as Yuffie explained everything she could, I listened to every detail. When she was done speaking, I felt an uncomfortable knot in my stomach.

"So my sisters…and my friends….there's a possibility that they could be…"I trailed off, unable to bring myself to say what I was thinking.

"Unfortunately, yes. But if you look around town, there's a slight chance you could find them. Like Yuffie said earlier, Traverse Town is a place where people seek refuge after their home worlds have been swallowed up by the heartless. There's a slight chance your friends might've ended up here just like everyone else. Just…don't get your hopes up too high." At the sound of a male voice, I turned to see a guy with shaggy brown hair and a scar across his nose. Yuffie shot him a glare.

"Jeez Leon, if you're trying to make her feel better, you're doing a lousy job!" She said. Then, turning to me, she added,

"Sorry, Sienna. Don't listen to HIM. I'm sure you'll find your sisters and friends." I smiled gratefully at her.

"Thanks Yuffie, but…your friend has a point. I don't think I should automatically assume they're here, but I can't just assume they're NOT here, either. All I can do is look for them." I said. Leon seemed slightly surprised I didn't get offended by what he said, but he didn't really say anything else to me other than I should look for my friends in the First District.

(Dawn's PoV)

I walked out of the alley I had woken up in to take a quick peek around the town I was in. There were a few peopled outside, and visible in the square were an Item shop and an Accessory shop. In front of those was an odd looking mail box and to the left of where I was standing there was what looked like a little restaurant-like area. To my right there were a couple of street lamps, (beneath one of which was a boy who resembled my friend Tidus a little bit) and a pair of large doors with a sign above them that read "Third District". Stepping up onto the steps that led to the shops, I looked around to see that there was another set of doors. The sign above them said "Second District". So obviously, I was in the First District. Deciding I had looked around enough, I went back to the alley where Sora still laid unconscious and tried to wake him.

"Sora. Sora, wake up." For a minute, he didn't move. Then, he slowly opened his eyes and sat up.

"Where…where are we?" he asked as I helped him to his feet. I shook my head.

"I'm not sure, Sora. I took a quick look around, but I haven't spoken to anyone yet because I wanted to wait for you to wake up." I replied. Sora thanked me for waiting and we made our way out of the alley and into the center of the town. When I asked a boy about our age where we were, (the boy who resembled Tidus) and he told us this place was called "Traverse Town" and it was meant to be a safe haven for those whose homes had fallen victim to the darkness. I thanked him for the information and pulled Sora along.

"Dawn? Sora? Is that you?" Sora and I gasped and turned to see Sienna walking out of the accessory shop. Relieved, we ran over to her.

"Sienna, thank goodness you're alright!" I said, hugging her. She laughed softly and hugged me back before turning to hug Sora, too.

"I was worried about you guys, too. I don't suppose you happened to see Riku, Kairi, Ember, or Destiny around, have you?" Sora and I shook our heads.

"No. We were actually kind of hoping that at least ONE of them was with you." Sora said. Sienna gave us an apologetic look and shook her head.

"No. You two are the only ones I've been able to find so far. I'm sure you know already that this is Traverse Town. Luckily, I've been able to find out a little about the Heartless." Sora and I gave her a blank stare and she sighed.

"Sorry. Uhm…maybe I should take you to see Leon and Yuffie and have them explain it to you. But first, there're still a couple things I need from the accessory shop, now that I've found you two. Come on. I'll introduce you to Cid." She said, motioning for us to follow her into the accessory shop.

(Sienna's PoV)

"Hey, Cid. Sorry to bug you again so soon, but I found my sister Dawn and our friend Sora, and I need to buy a couple things for them, too." I said. Cid turned to face me.

"Well, I'll see what I can do." As Cid helped Dawn and Sora pick some things out, I counted how much munny I had left from when I was fighting heartless in the second district. (For some reason, when you defeated them, heartless dropped munny, though I don't know how THAT one works…) Unfortunatly, I only had a hundred and fifty munny, and that was only enough to buy one item.

"Guys, I'll be back. I've gotta go to the second district for a second." Cid gave me a questioning look.

"Second district? What do you wanna go there for? It's crawling with Heartless at this time of night." He said. I smirked and picked up my wooden katana.

"I know. That's the point. For some weird reason, when you defeat them, the heartless drop munny sometimes. I mean, I know I COULD get a job or something here instead, but something tells me the way I choose to make munny is the most efficient for me."

(Dawn's PoV)

"What do you think she meant by that?" Cid asked as my sister left. I sighed and shook my head.

"Honestly Cid, I have no….Gaahh!" I cried out in pain and dropped to my knees, my head in my hands. This is how the first vision of the day (if there was more than one) always started out; not only for me, but for my sisters, too. Before the images, there was always a headache. The four of us all had different types of visions. Destiny had Future Sight, Ember had Present Sight, Sienna had "Cupid Sight"; which was basically only Future Sight, Couples Edition, and I had Past Sight. As you could guess, my visions weren't as frequent as the others' were, and unless it was important, we never told each other our visions. (Of course, Sienna NEVER told us hers, for fear of changing fate or whatever) This time, my vision was of my mother talking to a man with blonde hair.

_"The answer is NO, Mister Shinra."_

_"But Ophelia, think of what we could accomplish by-" Mother wouldn't let the man finish._

_"I said no and I meant it. What you did to my husband, you are NOT going to do to my children, too. I have had a vision. And as it is…someday I will have to take my kids and leave Midgar because of you." She snapped. _

_"Ophelia, what are you talking about?" the man asked. Mother sighed. Her silvery green eyes held a slight hint of exhaustion within them._

_"Shinra…you are well aware that although I was adopted at a young age, my biological family has always possessed…the Five Sights, yes?" the man nodded and Mother continued._

_"Well, I possess Future Sight, and in my vision, I saw my husband, surrounded by flames and the blood of the people he once trusted on his blade. In his eyes…there was no longer love or light, only a deep hatred for everything and everyone before him. That's why I must-"_

The vision ended there and I looked up to see Cid and Sora staring down at me with concern. They'd managed to get me up onto the sofa, and Sora helped me to slowly sit up.

"What happened? You okay kid?" Cid asked. I shook off my dizziness and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a vision, that's all. The first one of the day always starts out like that…IF there's more than one in the same day, at least." I said.

"What'd you see this time?" Sora asked me. I sighed and stood up.

"Well, I saw enough to know that my father didn't really get lost at sea." I replied, stretching out. I then looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Come on Sora, let's go ask around a bit. Maybe we could find out a little about where Riku and the others are." I said. We told Cid we'd be back a little later and we were about to leave the shop when Cid stopped us a moment.

"Hold on. Dawn, you don't have a weapon, right?" he asked. I shook my head and he took what looked liked a short sword from behind his counter.

"Here, you can use this, at least until you find a better weapon." He said. I took it from him and examined it. The sheath was of the toughest leather I'd ever seen and the blade was VERY sharp. I thanked him and he said,

"Don't mention it, kid. You two just be careful, and if you two or Sienna need anything, don't hesitate to ask me, got it?" we nodded and thanked him again before leaving the accessory shop. But surprisingly enough, when we got out there, everyone had gone indoors. At first, I wondered why, but then I saw that somehow, some heartless had managed to get into the first district. I drew my new weapon and Sora readied his keyblade. As soon as they saw us they ambushed us. I managed to destroy some of the smaller ones, but unfortunately there were others protected by a little bit of armor, and I had to leave those to Sora and the keyblade. We'd barely managed to defeat them, and I figured now we could relax, but…

"They'll come at you out of nowhere." At the sound of a man's voice, Sora and I turned to see a guy with long brown hair and a scar across his face.

"Who are you?" The man ignored Sora and continued talking.

"And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the keyblade. But…why? Why would it choose a kid like you?" Sora and I glared at the guy. What was his problem?

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded.

"…Never mind. Now, let's see that keyblade." I glared at the man and Sora took on a fighting stance.

"What? There's no way you're getting this!" he said defiantly. I turned to him.

"Sora, what are you doing? Don't pretend like you still have energy to fight, you idiot! I can tell you're just as exhausted as I am!" I warned. He didn't look at me when he replied,

"Relax. I can take this guy!" the man readied his own weapon; which looked like a cross between a gun and a sword.

"Alright, have it your way, then." He said.

(Sienna's PoV)

I'd gathered at least 500 munny before deciding to call it quits and head back to the first district…then again, I didn't have much choice, since during my last battle with the heartless, they broke; yes, BROKE my katana. But when I got back to the first district, Dawn was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, Sora was unconscious, and Leon and Yuffie were there. As I walked up, I heard Yuffie say,

"Hey you found it. Nice going, Leon."

"Yeah, but it looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse." Leon replied.

"What's going on over here?" I demanded. Dawn glared at Leon.

"This creep just attacked Sora out of nowhere! We didn't even do anything!" she said. I turned to Leon.

"Is this true? Leon, you'd better have a good excuse for this!" I warned. Leon looked down at my weapon.

"No offense, but you couldn't really do much to me with a broken weapon. Get your friends and bring them to the hotel. I'll explain everything once we're there." He said. I sighed in annoyance and helped Dawn to her feet before picking Sora up off the ground.

"Fine, but like I said, this had better be a good reason." I said again.

(Sora's PoV)

"Come on, Lazy Bum. Wake up." Huh? I sat up and shook my head, trying to clear my head a little as I opened my eyes. When I turned, Kairi was standing beside the bed I was in.

"You okay?" she asked. I nodded.

"I guess…" I said. I mean, I was still sore from fighting that guy, but…

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the keyblade. But…it's your heart they really want, because you wield the keyblade." Even though I was confused by how Kairi even KNEW what she just told me, I said,

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Kairi." She gave me a confused look and put her hands on her hips.

"Kairi? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffie." She said. Just then, my head cleared and I could see that it really wasn't Kairi, but a girl with short dark hair.

(Dawn's PoV)

I glared over at Leon as Yuffie turned to him and said,

"I think you might've over done it, Squall."

"That's Leon." He corrected her impatiently. Sora looked around the room and spotted his weapon.

"…The keyblade…" he murmured. Yuffie nodded.

"Yeah…We had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out, THAT'S how they were tracking you." She explained.

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them, but it won't work for long." Leon added. I blinked in realization.

"Oh! So THAT'S why you were wailing on Sora so hard?" Sora shot me a slight glare, and Leon nodded silently at me before turning back to Sora, picking up the keyblade as he did so.

"Still….hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." He said, swinging the keyblade to the right. I gasped as it disappeared, only to reappear in Sora's hand. Sienna frowned at him.

"Leon, Sora has more potential than you give him credit for." She said in Sora's defense. Leon sighed.

"Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers." He said. Sora glared at Leon.

"Why don't you start making sense? What's going on around here?" he demanded.

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(Reg PoV)

"Okay, you know that there are many other worlds, besides your castle and this town, right?" the brunette woman asked. Donald Duck and his companion Goofy both nodded.

"Yeah." Donald said.

"But they're supposed to be a secret." Goofy added. The woman nodded.

"They've been secret because they've never been connected…until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed." She explained.

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"The Heartless?" Sora asked. Yuffie and Sienna both nodded.

"The creatures that attacked us." Sienna explained.

"You remember?" Yuffie asked. Sora nodded.

"Those without hearts." Leon added.

"The darkness in people's hearts…that's what attracts them." Yuffie said.

"And there is darkness within every heart." Leon said solemnly. Dawn and Sienna exchanged glances.

"Hey, have you guys heard of someone named Ansem?" Yuffie asked.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ansem?" Goofy asked. Aerith nodded.

"He was studying the heartless. He recorded all of his findings into a very detailed report." She explained.

"Gawrsh, uh, can we see it?" Goofy asked. Aerith shook her head gravely.

"It's pages are scattered everywhere." She replied.

"Scattered?" Donald exclaimed in disbelief.

"To many worlds." Aerith said. Goofy smacked his fist into his palm thoughtfully.

"Oh! Then maybe the king went to find 'em." He said. Donald nodded in agreement, as did Aerith.

"Those were my thoughts exactly." She said.

"We gotta go find him, quick!"

"Wait! First we need that "key"!" Donald reminded Goofy. Aerith nodded.

"That's right, the keyblade."

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"So…this is the key?" Sora held the keyblade up, as though to better examine it. Yuffie nodded.

"Exactly." She said.

"The heartless have great fear of the keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you, no matter what." Leon said.

"Wait, I didn't ask for this." Sora protested. Dawn put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Yuffie looked up at the ceiling a moment before turning to face Sora again.

"The keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you." She said lightly. Leon leaned against the door and waved his hand in an uncaring motion.

"So, tough luck." He said. Sienna shot him a glare.

"How did all of this happen? I remember being in my room…" realization hit Sora and he bolted up to his feet.

"Wait a minute! What happened to our home? Our island? Riku…Kairi…and Ember and Destiny…?"

"You know what? I really don't know…" Leon said, looking away. Sienna glared at him once more, but raised and eyebrow when he said,

"Oh yeah, I just remembered…" he then went over to the wardrobe on the other side of the room and opened it, pulling out a large suitcase.

"Sienna, you're the oldest, right? Out of you and your sisters, I mean?" he asked her.

(Sienna's PoV)

I crossed my arms, but nodded.

"Yeah, so?" I asked. I then let out a small grunt as Leon shoved the suitcase into my arms.

"Here. Yevon wanted you to have this if you and the others ever ended up here." He said. Dawn and I both froze, gaping at him. I was so shocked that I nearly dropped the suitcase.

"You…you knew our brother?" Dawn asked quietly. Leon nodded.

"He's a good friend of mine. I haven't seen him face to face in two years or so, but he keeps in contact every now and then. He's on a journey to put an end to the heartless." He explained. Exhaling, I opened the suitcase.

"THIS…was YEVON'S?" I asked in disbelief, holding up the blue and silver gunblade. Leon nodded.

"And now it's yours." I looked down and shyly thanked Leon.

"…Don't mention it. Alright, now pay attention. Using a gunblade isn't as hard as it looks. All you have to do is…"

(Dawn's PoV)

As Leon taught Sienna how to use her new gunblade, I smirked and turned to Yuffie.

"So, how much you wanna bet they're going to end up together?" I whispered jokingly. She giggled softly and nodded.

"I wouldn't doubt it." She whispered back.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Leon asked impatiently.

"Nothing, nothing." We replied hastily. Then, to distract Leon from questioning what we were talking about, Yuffie said,

"By the way, where's Aerith?" Leon sighed.

"She should be in the other room by now with the other visitors." He replied.

"Who's Aerith?" I asked. Yuffie turned to me.

"She's a friend of ours." She explained. Catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, the ninja girl gasped and turned to face the opposite wall.

"Leon!" she exclaimed. I gasped and backed away from the heartless that appeared in the room. Leon's head shot in our direction and he readied his gunblade.

"Yuffie, go warn Aerith!" he told her. Yuffie nodded and ran out of the room to warn their other friend.

"Alright, let's go." I sighed as Leon jumped out of one of the windows and into the alleyway. Sienna, Sora and I followed suit through the same broken window that Leon had jumped out of.

"What's the plan, Leon?" Sienna asked. Leon turned to us.

"Don't bother with the small fries. Find the leader. I'll draw off the others." He said. The rest of us nodded and broke off from Leon to make our way to the center of the district. We hadn't been running long before we more or less wound up meeting two more….uhm…somethings. One was a talking duck, the other was a talking dog. Of course, after the heartless, we weren't really all that surprised. But we didn't have time for introductions, because we were in the center of the third district, and a whole lot of heartless appeared. As I turned around, I saw a wall rise up and block the way out of the district. We were trapped.

(Sienna's PoV)

I growled under my breath and readied my gunblade as a giant heartless appeared. This was gonna be tough; since we had to fight a bunch of smaller heartless besides.

(Dawn's PoV)

The good news was, we beat the heartless. The BAD news was… Donald (the duck) and Goofy (the dog) only had room for three in their gummy ship at the moment, and until they could get it modified to fit me and my sister, we had to stay in Traverse Town.

"But I can't leave them here." Sora protested.

"Sora, you should go with them, especially if you want to find your friends." Leon said. Sora turned to us for approval. Sienna and I smiled at him and nodded.

"Leon's right, "Mr. Keybearer." We'll be fine. Who knows? Maybe Riku or one of the others will show up here." She said semi-jokingly.

"Sora…just promise you'll come back to us in one piece." I said. He smiled at us and nodded. As I watched Sora walk out the town gates with Donald and Goofy, I sighed. Well, may as well get to know the locals and explore the town a little more while we waited, right? Of course, I kind of had to wonder how that would go.

**(A/N: lol next chapter, we get to see how it goes when Sienna tries to spend a little quality time with Leon. I wonder who will drive who crazy first? And I wonder if Dawn will finally find the man with the red hair? Dun dun dun! You'll just have to wait and see! ^o^)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

(Riku's PoV)

I laid Ember down on the bed and tucked a strand of violet hair behind her ear. I could hardly believe it. The girl I loved…the one I had promised to protect…had lost her heart. I swore to her that as long as she was with me, nothing bad would happen, but…I couldn't protect her from _this. _I let her down. Ember…I'm so sorry. Somehow…I WILL get you your heart back.

"You wish to help her, yes?" I turned to the woman called Maleficent.

"You said you could tell me how to get her heart back. Well, I'm listening." I said.

(Reg. PoV)

Maleficent smirked.

"First, you must…"

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(Dawn's PoV)

I sighed and opened my eyes. Sitting up on the loveseat, I glared over at Cid; who interrupted my nap.

"What?" I whined. Cid frowned at me and sighed.

"I said; instead of napping, you should be training with Leon and your sister." He lectured. I smiled knowingly and shook my head.

"Oh, you're wrong about that one, Cid. I think Leon and Sienna could use the alone time. I'd just be in the way, trust me." I said, laying back and closing my eyes again. He muttered something under his breath, but he didn't say anything else.

(Sienna's PoV)

I smirked as I blocked one of Leon's advances with his gunblade.

"What's the matter Leon? Distracted by something?" I teased.

"…" he shot me a glare and jumped back before attacking from the side. I jumped out of the way and smirked.

"I'll take that as a yes." I said, laughing as I tried to attack from the left. He blocked my swing and pushed me back a few feet.

"You're too cocky for your own good." He said, swinging at me again. This time he managed to trip me, but I grabbed hold of his shirt and dragged him down with me. We both dropped our gunblades, and I smirked.

"I'm not the only one. You're pretty arrogant yourself, automatically assuming I'd fight fair." I said coyly, tugging at his hair playfully. He swatted my hand away and stood. Sighing, he picked up his gunblade.

"….I think that's enough sparring for today. You're getting better. Keep it up and you'll be a professional in no time." He said in that same annoyingly emotionless tone he always used. I sighed in slight annoyance and picked up my own weapon.

"Fine, fine. I'll see you back here later on. I'm going to go hang out with my sister for a while." I said boredly, waving as he walked past me.

(Dawn's PoV)

I gasped and bolted upright on the sofa in the accessory shop. Such a terrifying dream… a place consumed by flames...and the man that was there; a man with long silver hair with a look of bloodlust in his eyes. I couldn't help but wonder what it meant. All I knew was now, I was REALLY missing Sora and the others now. I hadn't had a dream shake me up that much since…no. No, I couldn't think about that now.

"You okay there, Dawn?" Cid asked. I looked over at him and nodded.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I had a bad dream, that's all. So uhm…is there anything you need me to do for you here at the Accessory Shop?" I asked. Cid shook his head.

"Not that I can think of. Why?" I stood and picked up my weapon.

"Because if you didn't need me to stick around here, I was going to head over to the Third District and fight some Heartless. Increase my fighting skills; maybe find some munny on those stupid things if I'm lucky." I said. _And get my mind off of that stupid dream… _I added to myself. Cid nodded.

"Go ahead. Just be careful, you hear me?" he said. I nodded.

"I will, Cid. Don't worry. And if Sienna comes back from her sparring session with Leon, let her know where I went, kay?" I said. Cid nodded.

"Sure thing." He said.

(Sienna's PoV)

When I got back to the accessory shop, I sighed in slight irritation.

"She went off on her own and you let her, huh?" I asked with a sigh. Cid nodded.

"Come on, I barely know you girls and even I know that Dawn can look after herself." He said. I shot him a look and sighed again, flopping down on the couch.

"True enough, but I wish she'd have waited for me. Hey Cid…did she happen to tell you why the dream she had bothered her so much?" I asked. Cid shook his head.

"Not that I can think of." He replied.

(Reg. PoV)

Sienna frowned. Sure, she didn't expect Dawn to confide in someone who was still kind of a stranger, but she wondered what could be so bad that the younger girl would go off on her own.

"Cid I'm going to go look for her." She said, standing up and swinging her gunblade over her shoulder.

"Well, she didn't say to have you wait her fore her, so I ain't gonna stop you. Just make sure to keep your guard up. I think that's by far the worst district as far as the heartless infestation goes." He said. Sienna nodded and left the shop.

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(Destiny's PoV)

I glared at the woman in black and turned away.

"Who are you anyway? And what would YOU know of what my heart is feeling?" I snapped curtly. I wasn't looking at the woman, but I could tell she was scowling at me.

"My name is Maleficent. And I assure you girl, you do NOT want to cross me. …You feel hurt; rejected, yes? You feel as though the one you have reserved your heart for has taken you for granted. That he has…caused you unimaginable pain over the years. You want revenge. You want to make him feel the pain you have felt ten fold! And…I can help you." Hesitantly, I turned to face this "Maleficent".

"….I don't want to hurt him. Not…not physically. What I want…is to eliminate the competition." I stated flatly. Maleficent arched an eyebrow at me.

"Oh? ….I see. But unfortunately, you cannot eliminate her so long as HE is able to stop you. You must first put the key bearer out of commission; make it so he cannot defend her. And THEN you will be able to dispose of her." She said. I thought about what she said. Sora would try to stop me, it was true. She was right, I had to find a way so he couldn't defend Kairi. Maybe….maybe I really WOULD have to fight him. After I nodded in indication that I accepted the proposition Maleficent was offering, she left. Once she did, I decided I may as well take a look around this creepy castle. The whole place was dark, lit only by the dim essence of candlelight in the halls. Looking out one of the windows I passed, the outside was light, but it was more of a sad, depressing light, despite the sun's brightness. I gasped in surprise when I turned a corner and accidentally ran into a shadow heartless. It looked up at me and blinked. I gave a slight smile. The little thing was kind of cute, now that it wasn't attacking me. Hesitantly, I knelt to its level and reached my hand out slowly to pet it. I didn't actually touch it yet, though. I wanted to wait and see what it would do. After a moment, it nudged its head under my hand. Now, my instincts told me this was DEFINITLY something a Heartless wouldn't usually do, so I was going to milk its current cuddly demeanor for all I could. With a smile, I picked it up and hugged it.

"I see you found the Defective." I jumped and turned to Maleficent.

"Defective?" I asked. She nodded; a disgusted expression on her face. The Heartless clung to me, shaking in what I assumed to be terror as it looked up at Maleficent.

"Yes. That particular Heartless will not do my bidding as the others will. But…it seems to have taken a liking to you. Perhaps with a bit of help from the dark powers I gave you, it will be of use to you against Sora." She said. I looked down at the Heartless and then nodded as I looked back up at Maleficent.

"Worth a try, I guess. But I have to ask. When and how did you give me powers over darkness?" I asked. She smiled a cold smile.

"As soon as you stumbled upon this world, I could feel the anger in your heart, and all I had to do was tap into that when I made the proposition and the power manifested itself." She explained. Then, looking me up and down, she added,

"Now, I think it's time to give you a change of clothes." I raised an eyebrow in brief confusion then looked down. I was still wearing my black laced pajama top with poofed short sleeves and a black ribbon in the center of the chest, and the pair of matching black pajama pants with laced bottoms. I looked up at Maleficent and nodded gratefully.

"Thank you Ma'am, that would be great." I said. I had forgotten that if it was night when we got home, my sisters and I almost always changed into our pajamas. Thinking a moment, I said,

"But I have one request." Maleficent seemed a little annoyed, but she said,

"And what would that be?" I bit my lower lip and shrugged apologetically.

"Got anything in my size in…black?" I asked hesitantly. Maleficent smiled and nodded, snapping her fingers.

"How's that?" She asked, conjuring a mirror for me to see myself. I gasped. I was now wearing a white V neck t-shirt with a black tuxedo vest buttoned over it and a black frilled skirt. I had black frilled fingerless gloves on with sapphires in the top center of them. I had a black and white stocking on one leg, and a black and dark blue stocking on the other, and my black zip up boots had chains along the opposite sides of the zippers, and around my neck was a silver chain with a white pendant in the shape of a heart with thorns on the inside. I still had my studded black choker with my oval locket that had a picture of me, my mother, and my brother and sisters inside. I looked up at Maleficent and thanked her. She then held something out to me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A collar for your new "pet" so you may tell it apart from the others when you are in battle." She explained. I took the spiked collar aligned with rubies and put it around my Heartless' neck. Before I could say anything else, she had disappeared again. With a sigh, I looked down at my pet.

"I'm going to have to think of a name for you." I said, pondering as I walked back to my room with it.

(Dawn's PoV)

I crossed my arms at Leon.

"Excuse me? What's wrong with our current clothes?" I demanded. Sienna accepted the outfit Yuffie held out to her and said,

"Sis, we didn't notice because of all the commotion going on, but we're still in our PJs." She said. I blinked and looked down. It was true. I wasn't wearing my short sleeved green and blue striped t-shirt, pastel blue vest, or green denim baggy capris with zippers on the legs. I was wearing my light blue flannel pajama t-shirt with matching pants….and I was barefoot. Groaning in slight embarrassment, I took the outfit Leon held out to me.

"Well, Aerith and Yuffie will be in the green room, and I'll be right outside in the hall patrolling for heartless. If any happen to show up here in the blue room, all you have to do is call us." He said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

When we had changed, Sienna and I examined ourselves in the mirror. She wore a pine green vest over a tan tank top and pair of dark green shorts over tan leggings and dark brown buckle over boots. On her hands was a pair of brown leather fingerless gloves. Around her waist was a black belt similar to the style of Leon's with a holster or sheath or whatever for her gunblade. I myself wore a pair of lime green capris with a lemon yellow t-shirt and a neon blue vest. Around my waist I had a dark blue belt with a sheath containing my short sword. As I adjusted the laces on my dark green and white sneakers, I noticed I was wearing a pair of white baggy socks and light blue wrist bands with black mouse head symbols on them. **_(A/N: For those of you who don't know, the mouse head on her wrist bands is the Mickey Mouse insignia, lol) _**When Sienna asked me what I thought of her new look, I gave a teasing smile.

"I think you shouldn't let Yuffie and Leon pick your outfits anymore." I joked. She gave a good natured laugh and punched me in the shoulder playfully.

"Hey, at least I don't look like a pineapple." She teased back. I laughed and sighed. Sitting down on the bed, I hugged my knees into my chest.

"….Sienna, do you think Ember and Destiny are okay?" I asked quietly. Sienna sat beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. When I looked up, she had a reassuring smile on her face.

"Come on, I'm sure they're fine. They're probably in another world waiting for us to pick them up as we speak."

"….Riku and Kairi too?" I asked. Sienna gave my shoulder a light squeeze.

"Totally." She said.

(Sienna's PoV)

After I assured my sister that our friends and sisters were more than likely safe, she and I got Leon and the others and we went back to the First District. My sister decided to ask around to see if anyone could tell her how to build a gummy ship, and Yuffie and Aerith went off to go shopping. So, that left just me and Leon. Sighing, I smiled at him, deciding to make the best of it. I didn't want to be on my own right now, and Cid was busy running his Accessory shop, so I said,

"So, what do you say we go get a bite to eat before we continue sparring?" Leon seemed a bit inconvenienced by this.

"I have food at my place. Why would I want to eat out?" he remarked. I crossed my arms at him in annoyance.

"Come on, Leon. Live a little. Don't you know how to have fun?" I asked in disbelief. He just gave me an annoyed look and turned to leave. Not willing to give up so easily, I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back towards the restaurant. Before he could protest, I asked the waitress for a table for two, and shoved him into a chair when she had showed us to our table. Sitting down, I ignored the glare he was giving me and looked at my menu.

"Look, I'm buying you dinner whether you like it or not, so you may as well just look at the menu and see what you want." I said bluntly. Leon gave an annoyed sigh and picked up his menu.

"…You know people are going to assume we're on a date, right?" he remarked. I snorted.

"Considering a few of them actually SAW that you did not come over here of your own free will, I highly doubt that, Leon. Like I said, you need to learn to relax a little once in a while. You know with all the training you've been doing since I met you, I'm surprised you haven't killed over. Geez, do you even stop to eat or sleep?" Leon seemed quite annoyed by this.

"As a matter of fact, I do, not that it's any of your business." He said somewhat briskly. I smirked behind my menu. Looks like "Mr. Monotone" was capable of showing emotion after all. Fighting back the urge to laugh at the fact I was able to get a reaction out of him, I said,

"Alright, fine. I was only trying to lighten the mood, I didn't mean anything by it. So, do you know what you want to order?" When I looked up at him, Leon had an annoyed expression on his face and he sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. You?" he asked. I nodded. After a moment, he asked,

"So, do you do this often?" I looked up at him in confusion.

"Do what?" I asked. Leon rolled his eyes.

"Drag random men on dates with you." He remarked. I gave a dry laugh.

"Hardly. This isn't a date, it's just two "friends" getting something to eat and trying to get to know each other a little better. I don't date, not anymore." I replied. Luckily for me, Leon didn't seem to be the prying type, and he didn't ask me why I said what I did. When the waitress returned, we placed our orders. As she walked away again, I saw Leon staring at me a moment, elbows resting on the table and hands locked together, his chin resting on his knuckles. He seemed to be trying to figure something out. I sighed.

"Leon, if you have something to say, say it." I said irritably. Leon sat up straight and rested his hands on the table.

"I'm just trying to figure you out. You could be hanging around anyone else, someone more "lively" if you wanted to. So why do you keep hanging around me? Is it because I'm Yevon's friend, or….?" he asked. I took a sip of my water and sighed.

"It has nothing to do with Yevon, Leon. I just… I don't know how to explain it...I guess I just feel comfortable around you for some reason. I like you. Sure you may not be all that into relaxing and having fun, but…to be honest I can understand why. And…I'm sorry I've been such a pest. I guess…I miss having people to talk to and stuff. My friends back home and I used to go out and have dinner and hang out every Saturday night like this. I don't know…I guess….I guess I'm just still kind of in shock about what's happened. But, hopefully with your help, I can learn to better my skills with the gunblade and help to fight against the darkness. Then maybe…we can all go home."

"Aren't you optimistic." Ignoring the slight attitude in Leon's voice, I said,

"Well…yeah. I had to help my grandmother take care of my three little sisters after our mom passed away. I have to be optimistic; I have to be strong for THEIR sake as well as my own. Otherwise, how can I keep them safe? Although….if we DO get to go back to our homes…" I trailed off as the waitress returned with our food. After she left again, Leon said,

"What is it?"

"….When we DO return to our homes…we may never see each other again. That's kind of depressing."

". . . How so? We barely know each other." I shot him a glare.

"Come on, even though we just met a little over twenty four hours ago, we've already been through a lot together. How can I NOT be at least a LITTLE attached to you, Yuffie, and the others?" I let Leon think about what I said as we ate. When we were both nearly done with our food, he said,

"I guess you're right. So, any idea where you want to train tonight?" I thought a moment.

"Hmm…well to be honest, I don't see anything wrong with the cavern where you and I sparred last time." I said. Leon nodded.

"Alright, the cavern it is."

(Dawn's PoV)

I smiled from where I was hiding. Leon and Sienna didn't realize it, but I was already done talking to Cid about building gummy ships, and he said if I could find some parts, he'd help me put one together. Now…I was spying on my sister and her probably-soon-to-be boyfriend. I mean come on… I didn't have to have Future Sight like Destiny to know that Sienna was starting to fall for Leon. I know she said she would never date again, but I think Leon would be good for her. As I saw them get up, I knew it was time to take my leave, so I snuck away before they could catch me eavesdropping on their alone time.

I walked around the first district chatting with a few people for a while before I decided to head back to the hotel. I was a little jealous of my sisters to be honest. Sure, Destiny and Ember were kind of having a bit of trouble with the guys they loved, but at least they and Sienna knew that their crushes were REAL. The more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder if the red haired man was real, or just a figment of my dreams and nothing more. Maybe it was time I forgot that mess of ruby red hair and those blue-green eyes and moved on with my life; maybe tried to seek a love I KNEW was REAL…after I found my little sisters and our missing friends, of course. But…I couldn't do a thing without a gummy ship. Heaving a sigh, I decided to go wander around the Third District and maybe try out that Fire spell that Donald was nice enough to teach me and Sora. Walking around the Third District, I took in the details for the first time. In the area where Sora, Sienna, and I had met Donald and Goofy…where we all had to fight that giant Heartless, in other words…there was some sort of weird colorful building, and back a ways was a large door with a fire symbol on it. My curiosity peaked, I walked over to examine it better. Hmm…. The symbols around the flame seemed…odd somehow. Looking around to make sure no one was around to see me make an idiot of myself if what I was about to try didn't work, I closed my eyes and concentrated on using my Fire spell on the door. As I held my short sword up to the door and concentrated, I could feel a warm tingle throughout my arm. I inhaled sharply as a flame shot from my blade and the door opened to reveal a tunnel. I admit I was having second thoughts, but I knew there was no point in turning back at that point, so I went ahead and entered, making my way down the surprisingly muddy path down to a small body of water with a little island in the middle. Resting on the island was a small, run-down looking house. Unfortunately, the only way to get to the little island was a path of moving stones on the surface of the water. The little cave I was in was dark, so I couldn't tell how deep the water was, and let's just say I never was the most coordinated girl on Destiny Islands when it came to jumping or racing. Briefly looking back the way I came in, I figured I had two options. I could turn back and most likely let SORA find out what's in that house FIRST, or I could take my chances with the stones and if all else failed; SWIM over to the little house. Sighing, I decided to go with option "B". Hey, I'M the one who found out the house was there. Why should "Mr. Keyblade Bearer" get to find out what was inside before me? Do I sound jealous and petty? Yes. Do I care? No. Heaving a nervous sigh, I backed up to get a bit of a running start for the first jump. Looking over, I caught a glimpse of something that made me gasp. Someone with a black coat and red hair went around to the back of the house. Could…could it be…? Not wasting anymore time, I ran forward and jumped onto the first stone. Taking a second to regain my balance, I then moved onto the next stone, and the next, and… well, on my jump to the fourth stone, my timing was a little off (the stupid things HAD to be moving!) and I wound up swimming the rest of the way. As I reached to grab the edge of the little island, I saw a black gloved hand grab my own and pull me up to the dry land. When I looked up though, no one was there. I sighed.

"I must be going crazy." I muttered as I walked around to the back of the little house. There was a hole in the back of the wall with a curtain hanging over it. Curious, I peeked inside. It was dark, and there seemed to be dust everywhere. Thinking it was probably abandoned, I entered.

"Uhm…hello?" I called hesitantly. No answer, so I took a look around. The place was dark, but I could tell there wasn't a thing there; it was just an empty room.

"Hello?" I called again. I still received no answer. Sighing, I sat on the steps of the small platform in the middle of the room.

"Well, well. You've arrived sooner than expected, Dawn." Surprised, I turned to see an old man with a long grey beard and odd clothes (I guess he was a wizard or something?) and holding a small fold open suitcase; you know, the ones that open kind of like those little coin purses… I placed my hand on my weapon cautiously. He didn't SEEM dangerous, but then again… the Shadow heartless looked cuddly and harmless, too. And THEY try to rip your face off. So I obviously couldn't let my guard down. I gave him a confused look.

"You knew I was coming…? Wait, how do you know my name?" I demanded. The old man chuckled and set his bag down on the platform.

"Don't be alarmed. My name is Merlin and I'm a sorcerer. Your late mother was a good friend of mine. We met on one of my travels; I do a lot of traveling, you see. My, it's good to be home. …She asked me to train you and your siblings if you ever found your way to Traverse Town." He explained. Needless to say, I was both surprised and confused. Standing up, I asked,

"Hold on, how did SHE know about Traverse Town?" Now it was Merlin's turn to be surprised.

"You mean your mother NEVER told you children? EVER? Oh dear….well, a long time ago, Ophelia was quite the ambitious young sorceress. She too, traveled to different worlds from time to time. It was in her world that I met her. After our first meeting, I made her my apprentice. When her training was done, she would come to my world as often as she could to visit. And how I knew of Traverse Town is for a while, she lived here. This is where your youngest sister…Destiny, I believe….was born." I gaped at the old wizard. Destiny was born HERE? So…we lived here first? Well…that would explain why this place felt so familiar to me; though I failed to mention it before and preferred not to dwell on it. Shaking off these thoughts, I said,

"So, uhm…you said something about teaching us how to use magic, right? Well, I can tell you right now that Sienna won't be interested. Magic isn't something she's into. She prefers physical combat." I said. Merlin nodded.

"I see. Well, the King asked me to train his Court Wizard and the Key Bearer to use magic as well. If you like, we can wait for them so you won't have to train alone." He suggested. I nodded. I missed Sora, and it wouldn't be any fun to train without him.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Hopefully Sora and those other two get back soon. I'll bring them back here with me when they come back." I said. Merlin nodded and picked his bag up again.

"Well, I nearly forgot that I had other errands to attend to before returning home. If you'll excuse me…" he said. And POOF! He was gone. Figuring there was no reason for me to stick around, I left the house and swam back over to the other side of the cave. Heaving a sigh, I opened the mystical door and walked back out into the Third District. As I made my way to the door back into the Second District, something caught my eye. At first I thought it was Sora, but when I looked, no one was there. Weird.

"Dawn, you are DEFINITLY going crazy…" I muttered to myself, shaking my head.

(Destiny's PoV)

I looked around the strange new world. It was so colorful and...ugh! The room I was in was so strange; there was a small door with a….sleeping doorknob…and a glass table in the middle with two bottles on it. One potion was red, the other was purple, and they both had tags that said "Drink Me". I turned to my companion leaning on the wall behind me. He was compleyely ebony; skin hair and clothes. His eyes were glowing yellow; like those of a heartless. If someone took a close look at him, they would think this particular heartless was Sora; and in a sense they would be correct. This was Anti-Sora. I myself dubbed him with a different name though; "Soa". I know, I know. All I really did was take the "R" out of "Sora", but it sounded a lot better than just calling him "Anti-Sora" all the time. Despite his appearance, I didn't want to think of him as being anything to do with Sora. And you know what? The name change helped.

"What do you think, Soa? Should we give this a try?" I asked, nodding over towards the "Drink Me" bottles. Soa smirked and shrugged.

"Whatever my Destiny wants. You're in charge here; remember? Maleficent's orders." He said. I smiled and nodded.

"Alright. But first I think we better take a look around to see if there's another way to the other side. I don't think we're going to be covering much distance through…" before I could finish, Soa walked over to a bed that was pushed against the wall and kicked it in, revealing that there was a hole behind the headboard. I narrowed my eyes at the cocky look in his yellow orbs.

"Don't give me that look." I said. Soa laughed and took the purple bottle off of the table.

"Ladies first." He said. With an annoyed huff, I took the bottle. You might be wondering why Soa is able to speak, as well as more or less act like he has a heart. Well…Maleficent made him that way…for me. She said it was sort of a reward for my cooperation and obedience so far. Now that I had Soa, I had no regrets for whatever Maleficent ordered me to do to SORA; I didn't need him anymore. Taking a sip from the bottle, I gasped when the room and Soa became bigger. Of course, Soa didn't stay a giant for long, because he took a drink from the potion after I did. Nodding to each other, we walked through the hole. It was some sort of court area in the middle of a rosebush maze. Using the powers of darkness, we were able to sneak past the card shaped soldiers and into the next area; a forest of giant flowers; lotuses, I think. On to the next phase.

(Sienna's PoV)

I tried to keep my temper in check as Leon spoke to me about some of the things that happened after he and Yevon had become friends, but it was difficult. My sisters and I all shared a common hatred for our older brother. Eight years ago…when our mother died…he left the islands. How could we not loath him for it? Noticing my tension, Leon stopped with his story (something about a bailey and a stray cat? I don't know, I wasn't listening) and asked,

"Sienna, what is it?" I sighed and turned away from him.

"I just….I just don't want to hear or talk about Yevon anymore, okay." I said briskly. I couldn't see his face because I was turned away from him, but Leon's voice sounded confused.

"Why? He's your brother isn't he? I thought you would want to hear a little about what happened after he left your islands." I snorted in disbelief.

"Well, you thought wrong, Leon. He ABANDONED us when our mother died. He was the oldest, we NEEDED him…and he deserted us. Granny had to take care of us younger kids all on her own. I mean, I helped with the younger girls, but…._sigh_…he replaced us with a leather bound gunslinger, a hyperactive ninja, and-" Leon cut me off.

"You shouldn't speak so ill of him! He left for your sakes! He told me he had a vision, and-" I scoffed.

"Great, so now he not only REPLACED us with a new life, but he trusted a STRANGER enough to share one of his visions? Well…I hope you excuse me if my sisters don't think very highly of him for that." I snapped. I couldn't believe it….Leon had the nerve of bragging about how close he and Yevon were after Yevon ABANDONED us…THEN he hits me with the fact that Yevon….who NEVER told ANY of US….his FAMILY…about his visions of Sorrow Sight….actually shared with an OUTSIDER what he had seen? Without waiting for Leon to say anything else, I took the gunblade off of my belt and threw it at Leon's feet.

"Here. I don't want this; I don't NEED it. I can buy another weapon somewhere else." I snapped, walking briskly past him and out of the cave. Luckily for both of us, he chose not to follow me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

(Destiny's PoV)

I cursed myself mentally as Soa and I made our way through the Lotus Forest in the world called "Wonderland". At first, it was only to try and heal the pain I was feeling, but now…now I was actually falling in LOVE with Soa! He was a HEARTLESS incapable of loving; I should have known better than to see him as anything more than a replacement for what I couldn't have. But...I couldn't help myself. Heartless or not, Soa….

"Destiny?" Soa's voice broke me from my thoughts and I looked up to see him giving me a funny look.

"Destiny, are you sure you're up to the task here? You seem distracted all of a sudden." He said. Then, giving a teasing smile, he added,

"You're not getting cold feet on me are you?" I glared and lightly punched him in the arm.

"Shut up, I can handle this! You think I'm backing off from such an easy mission? Come on, how hard can it be to find one lousy keyhole?" I huffed. Soa laughed.

"Alright, alright. Sorry." He said, following me as I made my way over to one of the flowers.

(Soa's PoV)

Man this was irritating. I mean, I KNOW my "heart" isn't actually real, but did that mean the emotions I was feeling weren't real either? I couldn't tell! It was weird. I was a heartless made by Maleficent for Destiny; as a replacement for someone she couldn't have…Sora. Because of this, I had to wonder…was she only smiling and laughing for me…was she only loving me because I was Sora's dark reflection?...The imitation serving as his substitute? And was I only a little bothered by this because Maleficent made it so I would be? Or was I truly offended that I was being used?

"Soa, don't get on my case for getting sidetracked if you're only going to get all lost in thought, too!" Destiny lectured playfully.

(Destiny's PoV)

I gasped when Soa pinned me against one of the lotuses.

"Soa?"

"Destiny, who do you love more? Me…or Sora?" Soa asked suddenly. I looked up into his glowing yellow eyes questioningly.

"What? Soa…what're you….?"

"Do you actually want me, or are you only settling for me because you can't have HIM?" Why was Soa asking me this all of a sudden? I mean, sure his heart and feelings SEEMED genuine, but that was only because they were supposed to. He didn't REALLY have emotions, did he?

"Soa….what's gotten into you?" I asked, struggling against his grip. The humanoid heartless took my arms and pinned them above my head.

"Tell me what I want to know!" he said. I sighed. Boys…human or heartless…were all idiots…

"Soa…you're all I need. I never "settle" for anything less than what I actually want. And I DON'T want Sora; not anymore." I said truthfully. This seemed to be enough for Soa and he released me.

"….Let's go find that stupid keyhole and get out of here before-" Soa stopped mid-sentence when we heard,

"We are NOT lost!" I gasped. That was Sora's voice! I turned to Soa.

"Hide!" I whispered urgently. He nodded and disappeared into the shadows.

"Destiny….? Destiny!" I turned to face Sora and his companions.

"…..Sora, what are you doing here?" I asked. Sora seemed a little surprised at this question.

"I've been looking for you, Riku, Ember, and Kairi." He said. I sighed and turned away from him.

"First of all, I'm sure Ember and Riku are safe and together." I said bluntly.

"…Well….what about Kairi? Have you seen her?" Sora asked hopefully.

"…No." I said as icily as I could.

"Oh." Sora said disappointedly. His voice then seemed to lighten up a little as he said,

"Well…at least now I know you're okay. Hey, let's go look for the others together!" I clenched my fists.

"As if!" I snapped, turning a glare on him. Sora seemed hurt, but I ignored it and continued.

"First of all, who ever said I wanted to be found? I don't NEED you anymore Sora. …Maybe I never DID. And as for Kairi…I hope you NEVER find her!" I said. Before Sora could say anything else, I snapped my fingers and summoned a fairly large number of heartless. Surprised about this, Sora tried to call out to me. But I opened a dark portal and backed up into it. I had to find the keyhole before Sora did.

When we were elsewhere; some sort of tea garden or something…Soa crossed his arms and smirked.

"Ouch. I think you really hurt his feelings." He said. I snorted.

"Good! You know what they say about payback, after all." I said bluntly. Soa's smirk remained a moment then he said,

"So, where are we supposed to find that stupid keyhole?"

"If I knew THAT, we would have FOUND it already." I snapped.

"….You didn't have to snap….." When I realized that I had upset Soa, I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Soa. I guess….having to see HIM has put me in a bit of a bad mood. I didn't mean to take it out on you. Forgive me?" Soa smiled and pecked me sweetly on the lips.

"Always. So, any idea HOW we're going to find that keyhole?" he asked. I smiled and slipped my hand into his.

"How we're going to do everything….together. Come on, we'll head back to that weird room with the sleeping doorknob. Maybe we missed something in there." I said.

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(Dawn's PoV)

I sighed Sienna and Leon still hadn't made any attempt to make up, and on top of that, Sora STILL wasn't back. He was like a younger brother to me, and if ANYTHING happened to him while was with those other two, I'd-

"Penny for your thoughts?" I looked up as Aerith sat next to me on the steps in front of the accessory shop. I sighed and turned away from her.

"Trust me, you don't want to hear it." I said. Aerith put a hand on my shoulder.

"Sure I do. We're friends, aren't we? Tell me what's wrong." She coaxed. I sighed and turned to her.

"How much of it are you willing to listen to?" I asked. Aerith gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" she suggested. I exhaled.

"Alright, but remember, YOU told me to…..It's just…..it makes me a little mad that Sora just took off with complete strangers and left me and Sienna behind. I know, I KNOW, he said he'd be back, and he's not a little kid, and he has the keyblade; he can protect himself. But I still can't help but worry, and why it makes me mad isn't JUST the worrying and stress about whether or not he'll make it back alive….Riku and Kairi aren't the only ones out there, my SISTERS are out there, too! I should be out in a gummi ship looking for them! Before…." I trailed off and Aerith looked at me with concern.

"Before….what?" she asked. I bit my lower lip and sighed.

"Before Destiny….GAH!" I cried out in pain. Another vision was coming to me.

"Dawn? Dawn!" I could barely hear Aerith's voice over the voices of the people in the vision.

_The room was big….and dark. I saw Destiny and some woman who looked like an evil sorceress right out of a fantasy rpg videogame. _

_The woman smirked coldly as she spoke._

_"You seem distracted. Perhaps your mind is more conflicted about that wretched boy than you claim?" she said. Destiny scoffed and turned away from the woman._

_"I am NOT conflicted, Maleficent. I WANT to make Sora pay for all the pain he's put me through. …You wouldn't understand what I'm feeling…." She said, a mixed expression of pain and anger in her hazel eyes. The woman; Maleficent arched an eyebrow in slight amusement._

_"Oh?" she said, snapping her fingers. Destiny looked up and gasped when she turned to look behind her._

_"Huh? Sora?" she exclaimed. The woman smirked and shook her head._

_"Not quite. He is called "Anti-Sora". He is merely a….shadowed manifestation of Sora's inner darkness." Destiny examined the heartless that looked like Sora a moment and gasped, placing a hand on the collar around Its neck._

_"This collar….you turned the heartless I met in the hallway into…THIS?" she asked. Maleficent nodded._

_"He is yours and yours ALONE to command. He will do anything you ask of him. He is not like the other Heartless. I have given him an artificial heart; one so well crafted that you will nearly forget that it is not real. I created him so he would give you the one thing you could never acquire from Sora." She explained. Destiny looked up to see that the eyes of the heartless were closed._

_"Why does he seem….to be sleeping?" she asked._

_"YOU must awaken him….with a kiss. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to which I must attend." Maleficent said, disappearing into the darkness. Destiny smiled slightly and pecked the heartless gently on the lips._

_"Wake up….Soa." she whispered. Glowing yellow eyes that looked not like those of a normal Heartless….but like SORA'S opened slowly, and that was where the vision began to fade…._

I looked up to see Aerith kneeling over me.

"Dawn?" she asked uncertainly. I sat up and sighed.

"I think I may be too late to save her…."

"Who?"

"Destiny! She….Maleficent already found her. That evil witch is manipulating my baby sister; using her anger towards Sora to turn her to the darkness. She's even made some sort of Heartless version….an IMITATION of Sora for Destiny to command. "Anti-Sora" is what Maleficent called him…IT. But Destiny called It something else. Soa, I think." I replied. How was I going to tell Sienna about this? Or Sora?

"What do we do?" Aerith asked. I looked up at her a moment before standing and helping her to her feet.

"WE do nothing. You and your friends shouldn't get involved. I'M going to see if I can talk Cid into helping me build a Gummi ship, and if he DOES, I'm going to leave here and find Destiny; see if I can talk some sense into her." I replied. Destiny would only regret teaming up with the darkness later. I didn't have to have Future Sight like her to know THAT….it was just a gut feeling I had.

"Well….just be careful if you do leave. I don't know what I can do about Leon and Sienna, but I'll see if I can find out what the fight was about. That might help some. As for Sora…it's understandable that you feel the way you do about him leaving you and Sienna here. I'll tell you what, I'll talk to Cid and see if I can get him to build you a gummi ship of your own when he has the time. He had to temporarily close his gummi store to run the accessory shop, but I bet I can convince him to reopen his gummi business. And in return….you have to promise to cheer up a little. Deal?" I smiled and nodded, giving Aerith a brief hug.

"Deal. Thanks, Aerith." I said. Aerith nodded and hugged me back. After releasing me, she said,

"No problem. While I'm talking to Cid, why don't you go do a little exploring? I bet you haven't seen the WHOLE town yet." That sounded like a good idea, so I told her I'd take her up on the suggestion. Granted I'd probably run into a few heartless, but I could defend myself alright.

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(? PoV)

I made sure to conceal myself well within the shadows when I saw Sienna walk out of the hotel (I was by the alley leading to the Dalmatian's house).

"You shouldn't blame Leon for something I did, Sienna!" I called. Her head snapped in my direction, and she jumped down from the upper level.

"Was that…..?" I heard her say in surprise. Deciding it was only right I reveal myself to Sienna, I stepped out of the shadows. I was wearing a cloak so she couldn't see my face, but it didn't matter if she did. We were really young the last time we saw each other, and the way I looked now, there was no way she'd recognize me by physical appearance or voice. It was what I said that gave me away.

"You have a LOT of explaining to do!" she said icily. I winced. Yeah….this was NOT gonna be easy.

"Sienna, I WILL explain but first you have to promise you won't tell Leon or the others I'm here." Sienna scoffed but nodded, crossing her arms.

"Fine. I promise, now explain." She said impatiently. I sighed.

"Alright, well...I've been back in town for a while, and I saw what happened between you and Leon. Sienna, you shouldn't take it out on him because you're mad at ME. I left because I thought if I tried hard enough to seek out and fight the darkness….THIS wouldn't happen. But….it wasn't just THIS….there were other things I've seen that I want to prevent….that I HAVE to prevent even if it costs me my life. I never told you or the others about the things I saw because I didn't want to give you nightmares….or worry you. I tried to protect you the best I could, that's why I used a transportation spell to bring you, Dawn, and Sora HERE. Riku and Ember had already left the island by means of darkness, and Destiny had too. As for Kairi, I assumed she'd be with Sora. Obviously I was wrong. I'm sorry. I know you're mad at me, and nothing I can do will erase the pain or hate, but I figured the least I could do was make myself known to you, and to promise that I am doing all I can to help." I said. For a moment, Sienna said nothing, then to my surprise, she bopped me on top of the head as hard as she could, like she would often do when she though I did or said something stupid when we were little. OUCH!

"OWW! …..I guess I deserved that…." I mumbled. Sienna put her hands on her hips.

"You think? We didn't just hate you because you left us! We didn't know if you were alive or dead, and then Dawn and I find out from LEON that you made it to his home world when you left the islands, but then you turn around and ditch Leon and the others, and once again, we DON'T know if you're alive or not! Jerk!" she exclaimed with a huff, turning away from me and crossing her arms. I almost laughed at the fact that she was acting almost like she used to when we were kids, but my better judgment won over, and I suppressed it.

"Sienna, you know if I could have, I would've brought you all with me then. But Gran needed you girls. I was the "cursed child"; the "abomination"….the one who looked the most like HIM, remember? Gran hated me, and you know it. Did she even notice I was gone?"

"…..She never mentioned it." Sienna admitted quietly. I wasn't surprised. Our grandmother went with our mother to Traverse Town, and then Destiny Islands where we all grew up. And the entire time, even our mom could tell our grandmother hated me. She thought I was going to grow up and wind up JUST like my father. But she couldn't be more wrong. I only hoped Sienna and the other girls wouldn't have to find out just WHY our mom lied about him drowning at sea.

(Sienna's PoV)

For a moment, I said nothing to my brother. He left to try to protect us, and in my hear I knew that to be the truth, but I guess I wanted to hear his reasons from HIM, and I had been angry at Leon because I felt like he was speaking about things he couldn't possibly understand. But….I knew now I had judged him….and Yevon too harshly. Heaving a sigh, I socked my brother in the arm lightly.

"Come on, lighten up, huh Yev? After all, we're a family again right?" I said, forcing a smile. I couldn't see Yevon's face, but his voice was grave as he said,

"Not quite yet, Sienna. Unfortunately, as I just said, I'm trying to find out where Destiny, Riku, Ember, and Kairi are. And on top of that, I have to cut down as many of Maleficent's forces as I can. Sure, Sora's the "chosen one", but even you have to admit….he's still just a kid. That's a lot of pressure to put on one fourteen year old." I nodded in understanding and heaved a sigh.

"So this is why you only let ME know you were here. You knew Leon and Dawn would get mad at you for leaving again so soon?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, but not just them. Yuffie too. She'd throw one of her giant shuriken at me." He said. Honestly I couldn't tell if he was joking or not when he said this. But knowing YUFFIE….

"Sienna, there you are." I wheeled around to see Dawn walking towards me. When I glanced back behind me, Yevon was gone. Deciding to keep my promise to not tell the others he was here, I said,

"Hey Dawn. What's up?" Dawn had an exasperated look on her face.

"I've been looking for you everywhere, that's what! I want you to tell me why you and Leon had a fight!" she said. I sighed. How did I know she wouldn't just drop it? Well I may as well tell her, right?

"Okay fine. We got into a fight because he and I….had two very different points of view of Yevon, and it made me mad because I thought he was defending Yev about leaving the islands when it wasn't his place to do so. But….thinking about it, I guess my anger was misplaced. It's the same for all of us. Think about it, Grandma hated him for some reason. Remember?" Dawn looked down guiltily. She remembered now.

"I guess your right, and the way Leon was talking when we first got here, he seems so certain that Yevon is alive. Do you think we'll find him when we're out looking for the others?" she asked. I shook my head in uncertainty. I didn't know if we would encounter Yevon again or not….at least as soon as Dawn was hoping we would.

"I don't know Dawn. We might, but don't get your hopes up. We might not find him as soon as I'm sure you'd like to. And to be honest…I think I'd rather stay here for a while in case Ember or the others happen to come here." I said.

(Dawn's PoV)

I bit my lower lip when Sienna turned away from me. I had to tell her, it would only be harder on her if I didn't.

"Sienna…I need to talk to you about Destiny…." I said. She turned to face me, a confused look on her face.

"What about Destiny?" she asked. I sighed and looked down.

"She's…she's alive, but….she's working with that woman…Maleficent. And that's not all. She has some sort of Heartless imitation of Sora with her. Maleficent called It "Anti-Sora", but Destiny calls It Soa, or something like that. I think Destiny is helping Maleficent to try and stop Sora from finding and sealing the keyholes in the other worlds." I said. For a moment, Sienna said nothing, then,

"….Times like this, I wish we COULD control when we have our visions. Then maybe….I could tell if there is love and forgiveness in her future. But for now, we have to do our parts to make sure no one we care about gets killed." She said. I nodded. Even though Sienna's visions were only based around the love lives of others, sometimes they helped us to figure out what was to come outside the topic of romance. For example, it was by seeing a vision of Yevon break up with his first crush on the islands that Sienna found out that he was leaving in the first place. Granted we were too late to stop him, but at least we were able to try….thanks to a seemingly trivial vision.

"Unfortunately we can't. All we can do is trust in the visions we do receive. And…." I stopped when I saw Sora running towards us. He seemed upset about something. Without bothering to finish our conversation, Sienna and I ran to meet him.

"Thank goodness you made it back alive!" Sienna exclaimed in relief.

"What's wrong, Sora?" I asked. Sora stopped to catch his breath and looked up at us.

"It's Destiny! She…..she….." As he told us what she had said to him when they met up in the world called "Wonderland", Sienna and I exchanged glances. Destiny was turning to the darkness faster than we thought. Which meant we had to find her as quickly as possible.

(Sienna's PoV)

I turned to Sora's "friends".

"Donald and Goofy right? Please, is there ANY chance we could modify your ship to fit at least ONE more person? If Dawn goes with you, you have a better chance of finding your King and the others with the help of her visions of Past Sight. She knows how to recognize clues from her visions, so she'll be able to help you figure out where to go next. Please." I pleaded. Donald was about to protest, but Goofy leaned down and whispered something in his ear. The duck wizard sighed in defeat.

"Alright, alright. We'll see what we can do. The problem is, we don't know where we can find an extra seat to install into the cockpit. If you can find one, we can have our gummi engineers Chip and Dale put it into the ship." He said.

(Dawn's PoV)

I smiled gratefully at Donald and Goofy.

"Thanks guys. Oh! I almost forgot, Merlin wanted to see you and Donald, Sora." The others looked at me in confusion, and I explained about the mystical house and the wizard who lived there.

"He wants to teach us magic." I finished. Sora grinned excitedly.

"Well what're we waiting for? Let's go!"

(Sienna's PoV)

I laughed as I watched Dawn and the others rush off. I then sighed and looked at my watch. (I bought it from the accessory shop just before I ran into Yevon). It was kinda late, but I was sure Leon wasn't asleep yet. I needed to apologize for the way I acted before any more bad blood formed between us. The only problem was where to find him.

**Mewtwofangirl: And that concludes Chapter 4! Be warned, because of all I plan to put into it, chapter five will be twice as long….hopefully.**

**Sienna: What? You're ENDING the chapter HERE? Come on! I was looking forward to the part where I-**

**Mewtwofangirl: *covers Sienna's mouth* NO SPOILERS! *lets go***

**Sienna: Fine… *sulks***

**Mewtwofangirl: Anyway…. Next chapter, it's finally time for Dawn and Sora's first magic lesson. Will it be a breeze or total chaos? How will Sienna's attempt to reconcile with Leon go? And how far into the darkness will Destiny be pulled? Tune in next chapter to find out!**

**Sienna, Dawn, Destiny: We'll see you then!**

**Mewtwofangirl: ….No more Ouran High School Host Club for you guys…..**

**Leon: Sienna and I aren't going to kiss are we?**

**Mewtwofangirl: I'm not telling! XO**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

(Dawn's PoV)

I could hardly wait. Today was mine and Sora's first proper magic lesson. I admit I was a little jealous that he learned a Blizzard spell without me, but Merlin said once I started going with them, I would learn the same spells they did, so it was all good. He even said HE'D teach me the Blizzard spell if I did a good job on the lesson.

"Alright, Dawn; Sora. See if you can destroy the targets I've prepared for you by using just your magic." As Merlin said this, a bunch of floating furniture and some other household items appeared. There were a few tables, a wardrobe, a couple chairs, and three or four teapots. Sora and I glanced at each other and nodded as if to say "Let's do this!" before aiming our weapons at the wardrobe. It was the largest item…or "enemy" if this were a battle, and it's usually best to take the largest targets out first.

"Fire!" we cried. Sora's hit the wardrobe spot on, but I winced when mine ricocheted and shot down by Sora's feet. Sora jumped back in surprise and the flame barely missed him.

"…..Sorry about that, Sora." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Donald shake his head and groan. I glared over at him.

"Hey, give me a break! It's not like I had the chance to practice as much as YOU guys did, you know!" I snapped moodily.

"Err…perhaps having you two using magic together in such a small area wasn't the wisest choice on my part. Dawn, why don't you sit back and try to focus yourself for a bit. Sora, you practice first. When you have destroyed all of the first targets, more will appear. Then, it shall be Dawn's turn. Sora nodded and I sighed.

"Fine…" I mumbled, sitting on the far end of the room.

(Sienna's PoV)

Seriously, where the HECK was he? I heaved a sigh and finally sat on the bed in the accessory Hotel's Red Room.

"Wherever he is, I guess he doesn't want to be found or something…." I muttered.

"Hiya, Sienna. What's the matter?" Yuffie asked, entering. I sighed again and smiled exhaustedly.

"I've been up and down all three districts looking for Leon, hoping to reconcile with him, but I can't find him anywhere." I explained. Yuffie thought a moment.

"Hmm….oh yeah! He said earlier today that he was going to the Gizmo Shop for some reason." I stood up swiftly.

"The GIZMO SHOP? Is he out of his mind?" I exclaimed, running out, grabbing Yevon's gunblade off the chair by the door as I passed.

You may be wondering why I was in such a hurry. Well….earlier, around lunchtime, I was on my way back to the first district to get a bite to eat at the café. I was passing through the second district and I wanted to check out the Gizmo Shop, since I hadn't seen it yet. But I ran into a large, plant-like heartless. It was a black rose with six HUGE thorned tentacles. It attacked me and even though I tried to fight back, I couldn't since I didn't have Yevon's gunblade. It seemed rooted in place, so I locked it in the Gizmo Shop and high-tailed it back to the First District. After eating, I went back to my hotel room for a nap. When I woke up, that's when I ran into Yevon. And….yeah. You know the rest.

Instead of wasting time removing the metal crowbar I put through the door handles, I just took the gunblade and shot through it. The force pushed the doors open and I rushed in.

"Leon!" I gasped. He was unconscious and on the ground. I ran over to help him, but the heartless used two of its tentacles as a barricade. I glared up at the heartless and jumped out of its range.

"You messed with the wrong girl today, you ugly thing. Ever wonder what happens when fire meets plants? …You're about to find out." I growled, my glare turning to a confident smirk. I aimed my gunblade at the center of the heartless and fired. My first shot was blocked by one of the tentacles, but that tentacle caught fire and disappeared. The heartless made a sound of pain and fury and the three remaining tentacles it wasn't using to keep me from Leon shot forward and I barely managed to roll out of the way before charging at it, cutting one of the tentacles off and shooting at another. Somehow I was able to knock it a little off balance, and I took that opportunity to slice through it. As the heartless evaporated into nothingness, I turned and ran to Leon. Kneeling by him, I leaned down to listen for any signs of life. As I placed my hand on his chest, I could feel his heartbeat and the rise and fall motions of his breathing. He was alive. As I started to pick him up to get him back to the hotel, he came to.

"…." When I felt him stir, I swung his arm around my shoulder and helped him to his feet.

"The heartless….?" He asked. I smiled in assurance.

"I took care of it. You okay, Leon?" He turned his head towards me and nodded, pulling out of my grip as though silently telling me he could walk on his own. I nodded and released his arm. When he looked around to make sure I really had beaten the heartless, he turned back to me and looked down. Knowing what he was looking at, I held the gunblade out to him.

"I um….sort of borrowed it so I could help you out. Here." I said. Leon shook his head.

"It's yours. Keep it." He said. I smiled and thanked him. Then, looking down guiltily, I said,

"Leon….about before….I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken my frustration towards my brother out on you. After thinking about it, I realized that instead of hating him, I should be looking for him so I can hear HIS side of the story. It's just a theory, but…maybe part of the reason we were so mad at him for leaving is because….he didn't even say goodbye." Leon ruffled my hair in slight affection before turning around, arms crossed and shaking his head.

"That's Yevon for you. He did that with us, too. I bet you either got a vision….or a note like we did though, right?"

"Yeah. I had a vision of him and this girl he liked. He was breaking up with her and told her he was leaving the islands. And when we got home after an unsuccessful attempt to stop him…we found a note in his room. He said he had something important to do, but we were all too angry to care what he meant by it. And….I was wrong to be so angry with you. You spoke of your time spent with Yevon, and I guess….what made me angry was….the fact that he did something for you and the others that he never did around us."

"What? You mean the visions?"

"…..No. I mean the smiles; the laughter. He never smiled for us. Not once. I was jealous that he was so happy around you. I'm sorry. You must think I'm a real witch, right?" Leon uncrossed his arms and turned around, shaking his head.

"No. I don't blame you for how you felt. And I guess…I should apologize too. I shouldn't have assumed you'd be without anger towards him for leaving the islands without a word. ….I have to hand it to you, you're even better with that gunblade than he was." He said, showing a slight smile. I was surprised. I'd never seen Leon smile before. It was kinda nice….but a strange feeling rushed through my chest. What was it….? I smiled back and punched him in the shoulder playfully.

"Well, I had a great teacher. Without you, I never would have gotten the hang of this thing." I said, lifting the gunblade to emphasize my point. Leon ruffled my hair.

"Well keep practicing, and I'm sure your rep will grow as the Gunblade Swordswoman." He said, turning around. I nodded, then smirked as he walked by.

"Wait a minute, did you just give me a nickname?" I asked. Leon glanced back at me, but said nothing as he walked out of the Gizmo Shop. His eyes held a glint of mystery in them. Shaking it off, I ran after him.

"Hey, Leon, hold up! How about we spar? You know, to celebrate us being back on speaking terms!" I called. Leon stopped and turned to me, that barely visible smile still there. He nodded.

"Sure." He said.

(Destiny's PoV)

"What you're doing is wrong, you know." I glared at the girl in the mirror who had her arms crossed. She was wearing an outfit like mine, but it was white instead of black.

"What are you talking about?" I asked in annoyance. For the past couple days, I've been seeing this girl in my mirror. For some reason, I couldn't see her face. The reflection was always too bright.

"Don't you get it yet? You don't really love Soa, you're only trying to convince yourself you do because you think it will ease the pain, but you're wrong!" She pressed. Man she was really starting to get on my nerves!

"Look I never asked for your opinion, so stay out of this! I don't know who you are, but you shouldn't talk about things you know nothing about! I DO love Soa! I couldn't care less what happens to Sora!" I snapped. Again the "faceless" girl sighed.

"Whatever you say. But if that's truly the case….why are you so intent on causing Sora and Kairi pain….so determined to get revenge on them for what's happened? If you were really in love with Soa….wouldn't you turn away from the darkness…and ask him to do so as well? Wouldn't you have forgiven Sora and Kairi for wronging you?" she asked.

"Shut up! GAH! You are SO annoying! Just go away and leave me alone, Whoever You Are!" I finally yelled.

"…..Fine. But think about what I said, Destiny. Before it's too late." she said warningly. And then, she vanished…for the time being. A moment later, Soa entered my room, a concerned look on his face.

"Destiny, are you alright? I heard someone else in here. Was it HER again?"

". . . . . ." I silently nodded.

(Dawn's PoV)

Sora defeated the last of the targets and more appeared. It was my turn now. I concentrated all my magical energy into my sword. As a result, an orb of fire appeared at the end of the blade. I looked into it a moment…and once again I saw the man with long hair surrounded by flames. Startled, I lost control of the flame and it was released from my sword. It hit the center target (a table) before splitting apart into smaller separate flames and hitting the other targets as well. I winced. Even though I destroyed the targets all at once….I hadn't MEANT for that to happen… Sora gave me a surprised look, then his surprise and amazement turned to an expression of concern when he saw how unsettled I was. Merlin cleared his throat.

"Perhaps, My Dear, Blizzard would be a simpler spell for you to practice?" he suggested. I sighed and gave an apologetic look before nodding.

"Yeah. For some reason, I can't get the hang of controlling the Fire spell." I said.

(Yevon's PoV)

I leaned against a nearby wall and looked around the town I was in. This place sure had changed. But then…I guess it had to do with THEM. I was close with Them once. All three, but…then HE changed. SHE did to I guess, but it was mostly HIM….and not for the better in my opinion. He was the reason for all of this. And the Younger One….well…. He….. (sigh) to be honest it was kinda bittersweet thinking back on my memories with Them. There was good and bad….

I shook my head, trying to shake off my thoughts of the past. No point looking back. Memories wouldn't help Them now, right?

(Sienna's PoV)

I laughed as I dodged another advance from Leon's gunblade.

"Slowpoke!" I teased. Maybe I should have looked where I was stepping, because I found a slick spot by the water and started to fall backwards. Leon dropped his gunblade and reached forward, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards him to keep me from falling. When he did, he pulled a little too hard, and for a brief moment, our lips almost touched. ALMOST. Realizing this, he swiftly released me when he was sure I had regained my balance. My heart skipped a beat. What was this feeling within me? Was it….? It couldn't be…..? ….Was I falling in LOVE with Leon…?

Clearing my throat and picking up our gunblades, I held Leon's out to him.

"Th-thanks. That fall would've given me some headache." I said, forcing a smile. Leon nodded.

"Glad I was able to catch you in time. You seem to be getting tired. Let's call it a night and go get something to eat and drink. I don't want you passing out from hunger or dehydration." He said. At the mention of food, my stomach growled and I was aware of two things: One- It was already almost 1 am, and Two- We had been training since three in the afternoon and I had been hungry since six. So….yeah. Food was DEFINITELY sounding good to me.

"Sure. I'll buy."

"No, you bought last time. I'll take care of it." Leon objected, taking my wrist and dragging me out of the cave in the direction of the First District. I blinked. What….just happened?

(Dawn's PoV)

"What? We're leaving already?" I exclaimed in surprise. Donald gave me an annoyed look.

"We told you we'd be leaving as soon as the modifications to our ship were made. So if you're still going, hurry up!" he said, leaving to get to the gate. Sora gave me an apologetic look and left too, followed by Goofy. I sighed and stood up. Waving goodbye to Cid, I took off after them.

When we arrived at the world we were heading to, I looked around. It was a Coliseum of some kind. I was excited, needless to say. After all, I've ALWAYS wanted to see a real coliseum! There were statues of what looked like gladiators; or some type of ancient Greek or Roman fighters…. And around the outside area where we were, there were lit torches. (You know, the kind that look kind of like a bowl of fire sitting on top of a block of stone…I don't know how else to describe them…) and before us was the entrance. Looking at the design of the columns, I realized that this was in fact a coliseum of GREEK design, not Roman. (You think I'M a history Geek, go ask Destiny about the things she's read on ancient Egypt….she surpasses me in the History Nut department by an inhumanly large percentage….)

I hadn't realized yet that the guys had gone inside already, but it was made known to me when I was attacked by some blonde guy. I jumped away from him and drew my sword, but I didn't have time to block, so I just dodged again, preparing to parry and counter attack.

"What is your deal?" I demanded, swinging my sword only to have him block with his.

"It's nothing personal. I have orders from Hades." Was all he said before picking up the pace of his attacks; he was fast I had to give him that, but I was faster. Dodging and knocking his sword aside, I used the blizzard spell I learned to knock him off his feet and then I aimed my sword at his throat the moment he was on the ground.

"Look Blondie, I don't know what Hades' problem is with me or why you're working with him, but I'm not to be taken lightly…." That being said, I smiled and lowered my weapon. Reaching down and pulling him back up to his feet, I said,

"The name's Dawn, by the way. I gotta admit, it was kinda fun fighting you…..um…?" I trailed off when I realized I didn't know the guy's name. He blinked at me. I couldn't see his mouth cuz of the red cape he wore, but I could tell even without seeing his whole face that he was a little confused at my actions.

"…..Cloud." he said after a minute. I smiled again.

"Well Cloud, it's a pleasure to meet you. You know….you don't seem….evil to me. So….why work for someone who obviously IS?" I asked. When Cloud refused to answer I held up my hands in resign.

"I get it, you don't want to talk about it. Well whatever it is, I hope everything works out for you. See you." I said, giving the mysterious blonde warrior an encouraging peck on the cheek before waving goodbye and running into the coliseum.

(Reg PoV)

Cloud subconsciously put a hand to his cheek where Dawn kissed him.

{What a strange girl….I wonder if she's entering the tournament as well?} he thought.

(Dawn's PoV)

When the satyr explained the Games to us, Sora and I glanced at each other and nodded. If he thought we wouldn't be able to handle the training he dished out, he was VERY mistaken.

"Count us in!" Sora said. I nodded.

"How hard can it be after the things we've had to deal with so far...YOU three especially?" I asked, winking at Sora. Phil put his hands on his hips in a lecturing manor.

"Two words, kid: Don't. Get. Cocky!" he said. I sighed and turned to Sora.

"You go ahead. I'll wait out here and train when you're done." I said. Sora nodded and went in.

(? PoV)

So Dawn was her name, huh? And she was the one I was ordered to…well, it doesn't matter. It wasn't time to make contact with her yet, so I had to keep from being spotted. Soon, though. Soon….

(Sienna's PoV)

"What's wrong?" I turned to face Leon and gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Leon. I guess I'm just worried about my sister. I didn't want to go with them because one of us had to stay here in case one of our friends showed up, but not knowing if she and Sora are okay….it bothers me. And I'm sorry to say it, but I don't really trust those other two to look after them. After all, their objective is completely different from Sora and Dawn's." I said. Leon put a hand on my shoulder reassuringly.

"They'll be fine. ….Seems like you need a distraction all the same, though." He said. I gave a slight smile.

"No offense Leon, but I don't really think training is going to get my mind off of this today." I said. He sighed.

"I wasn't talking about training. Come on." He said, taking my arm and dragging me along.

"H-hey! Where're we going?"

"You'll see."

"L-Leon! I am perfectly capable of walking on my own! I don't need to be dragged!"

(Dawn's PoV)

I gasped. Sora beat Cloud in the match, but he was exhausted! Judging by what I was seeing, Cloud was probably holding back when he fought me. Oh, why wasn't I over with Sora fighting? Well, I entered too, but…..I kinda lost the fifth match. Plus, he wanted to take Cloud on solo. So Donald and Goofy were over by me.

As I saw Sora collapse and Cloud raise his sword to strike, I called out to him.

"Cloud, don't!" I cried. Apparently I got his attention, because he stopped and lowered his sword. But the sigh of relief I breathed came too soon, because a moment later, I saw a HUGE three headed dog appear out of nowhere and swipe a giant paw at Cloud, knocking him unconscious. I wasted no time in drawing my short sword.

"Sora! Cloud!" I wanted to go fight that thing, but Goofy held me back. As I made an attempt to jerk free of Goofy's grip, I saw someone run past me out of the corner of my eye. When I looked up to see who it was, I saw a guy in armor with blondish brown hair.

"Herc!" Phil exclaimed. The guy; who was holding Cerberus back from turning Sora and Cloud into dog food, glanced back at us.

"Phil, get them out of here!" he called back. Phil nodded and motioned for us to follow him. We ran until we were back in the lobby. Phil sighed in relief.

"Phew. That was close. That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Herc should be able to handle him. But then again, maybe not….This doesn't look good…." He said. I turned to Sora.

"Sora." I said. He nodded, but before Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I could go back into the arena, Phil said,

"Hold on! You guys aren't seriously going in there, are you? This ain't just a match, this is for real!"

"We can handle it. You can decide if we're heroes or not!" Sora said.

"Careful, Rookies." We nodded and took off into the arena.

(Destiny's PoV)

Sora crossed his arms and leaned against a pillar as we watched the spectacle below. Hercules, Sora, and the others were too busy fighting the three headed dog to notice we were there.

"Well, well. Looks like your sister is down there, too. Dawn, right? Wanna go say 'hello'?" I didn't turn to Soa when I said,

"You know I don't. If Dawn sees me with you, you know as well as I do what's going to happen." I said. Soa nodded and uncrossed his arms, walking over to me. When he reached me, he wrapped his arms around my waist in a hug.

"Yeah. She'd try to take you away from me." He said. I nodded and pulled out of his embrace to kiss him on the cheek.

"That's right. So let's not reveal ourselves to them again….yet." I said, looking on. I gasped when I saw Dawn and Sora deal the final blow, defeating Cerberus. They were stronger than I thought. I guess this is why Maleficent was so insistent that Soa and I keep an eye on them.

(Dawn's PoV)

I didn't know about Sora and the other two, but I was exhausted! Maybe using magic the majority of the fight wasn't a good idea. That stuff really takes it out of me! I was barely able to listen when Phil was reading off of the scroll he was holding.

"Thus I do hereby dub thee Junior Heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further-"

"Hey! What do you mean "Junior" Heroes?" Donald demanded. Phil looked up at him.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a True hero!" he replied bluntly.

"Well what does it take?" Sora and I asked.

"Well, that's something you're going to have to find out for yourself. Just like I did." Hercules replied. We nodded and left, means as we couldn't participate in any games for a while; means as Cerberus trashed the arena. When we got outside, Cloud was sitting on the steps by the gate to the world exit. I ran over to him, Sora and the others in tow.

"Are you alright?" I asked as we approached him. He looked up at me and nodded.

"Yeah." He said.

"So, why did you go along with him anyway?" Sora asked. For those of you who don't know, by "him", Sora means Hades. After Phil told us we couldn't compete in the Games without a pass, Hades gave us one, and that's when I told Sora that Cloud was working with Hades. Cloud looked down and said,

"I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired." Standing up, he added,

"I got lost in the darkness, and couldn't find the light."

"You'll find it." Sora said. I nodded in agreement with him.

"We're searching too." I said.

"For your light?" Cloud asked. We nodded. As Cloud walked by us, he said,

"Don't lose sight of it." Sora grinned.

"Hey, how about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved." He said. I smiled.

"I wouldn't mind taking you on someday myself, Cloud. I want to see how I would have fared against you if that'd been me in that arena with you." I added. Cloud turned his head back to look at us.

"I think I'll pass." Was all he said before walking away. I couldn't help but smile.

"We'll see him again. I have no doubts whatsoever about that." I said matter-of-factly. Sora smiled and motioned his head towards the world exit.

"Come on, let's get going to the next world." He said. I nodded.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll find someone we're looking for." I said hopefully, following the guys through the exit where the gummi ship was waiting.

(Sienna's PoV)

I gasped in awe at the sight before me. We were up on top of the tallest building in town, and looking down, I could see the entire town.

"Leon, wow….this is…." I trailed off, unable to find a word to describe how I felt. Leon turned to me.

"Do you like it?" he asked. I nodded.

"I love it! This is amazing!" I breathed. I could feel my heart skip a beat again, and that was when I knew, I really was in love with Leon. But….could I ever bring myself to tell him how I felt? We hadn't even known each other a full week, after all!

"Hey, mind if I ask you something?" Leon asked. I turned back to him.

"What's up?" What was on his mind? He looked a little troubled.

"….What do you plan to do if you ever get the chance to go back to your island?" I was a little surprised, I wasn't really expecting that to be what he wanted to know, but I answered him all the same.

"Well….unless I fall in love and the guy happens to feel the same, I'll probably go back if nothing happens that requires ANOTHER search for my friends." Somehow as I said that I got the feeling I just jinxed myself….but oh well. Leon looked out at the town.

"Unless you fall in love, huh? What kind of guy would you fall in love with?" I laughed softly and shook my head.

"If your asking what my type is, I don't even think I know anymore, considering who I've fallen in love with." I said. Leon looked up at me as I stood briefly before standing himself.

"So you're ALREADY in love? Who is it?" he asked. I smirked secretively.

"If you have to ask, you're not ready to know!" I said teasingly, climbing back down the way we came up. Leon seemed annoyed.

"Hey!" he said, following me down.

**(mewtwofangirl: Okay, that concludes chapter 5! I know I said I was planning to make it longer than it actually was, but it didn't work out that way. But hey, the chapters are gradually getting longer, right? Next chapter-**

**Dawn: We finally get to reveal who the red haired man is? **

**Destiny: *boredly* Leon and Sienna are finally going to end up together?**

**mewtwofangirl: *to Dawn* Not until Memory's Lament, and *to Destiny* N….well…..hmmm…..maybe. I haven't decided yet. We'll see.**

**Dawn: Memory's Lament? ToT But that's a whole fic away! No fair!**

**mewtwofangirl: Be lucky I don't scrap my idea for pairing you with "the red haired man" completely and pair you with someone else….**

**Destiny: By the way peeps, the red haired man is-**

**mewtwofangirl: *covers Destiny's mouth* Shut up! XO …I mean some of them probably already know by now, but still! Shut up! NO spoilers!)**


End file.
